News roundup: Where to now for the Chinese tech industry?

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

Startup funding slowdown

There was a dramatic drop in funding for technology startups in China in the second half of 2016, according toTech in Asia. Funding for the whole year, at $56.1 billion, still surpassed last year’s $45.1 billion, but investment in startups fell “back to 2014 levels” after the summer. One reason for the high number for the whole year was the $6.5 billion worth of funding put into “Alibaba spin-off Ant Financial in April and Uber’s China division in January.” Another factor highlighted by the article is that the recent explosive growth of new venture capital funds, some government-backed, has caused valuations for startups to skyrocket to levels that more established investors find unattractive.

How can China’s tech giants keep growing?

The Wall Street Journal examines a different problem in Chinese tech: the anxiety about future growth of established companies. The article, titled Chinese tech firms need wider reach in 2017 (paywalled), attributes the uncertainty to “the diminishing growth in the number of mobile internet users.” Paths to maintaining the extraordinary growth of the large Chinese technology firms may include expansion to China’s rural hinterland, pursuing foreign markets and selling products and services to senior citizens.

Sinica Podcast: Ian Johnson on ties between the Communist Party and the Catholic Church

Today we release an interview with Ian Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, on the warming ties between the Chinese Communist Party and the Vatican.

China would outlast U.S. in trade war, billion-dollar fund says / Bloomberg
“By design, decision-makers in a democracy face difficulties coordinating a relief effort and must eventually face a political backlash from impacted domestic producers,” wrote James Wang in a commentary for the Pine River China Fund. “On this basis, the Chinese may have more runway to play the long game in a trade war.”

China hits reset on yuan fixing / WSJ (paywall)
“China’s central bank is adjusting the mix of foreign currencies used in setting the yuan’s official daily value, a change that analysts said should help ease its depreciation pressure,” reports Lingling Wei.

China: Police shoot dead 3 who killed 2 in Xinjiang attack / Washington Post
“The incident Wednesday afternoon was the first such publicly reported fatal attack in months in Xinjiang, where information is strictly controlled by authorities and reporting access has tightened over the past couple of years.”

WEI WATCHA regular feature about what’s buzzing on Chinese social media64-year-old woman gives birth: Courageous or irresponsible?
A 64-year-old Chinese woman delivered a healthy baby boy through in vitro fertilization on Wednesday, which is likely to be the oldest childbirth case across the country so far. The topic has been a popular subject of discussion on Chinese social media with some people praising the mother for her courage, but others arguing that giving birth at such an old age is irresponsible to the child. You can read some of the discussion on Weibo (in Chinese) here.

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‘Critical’ journalism in China, explained by Maria Repnikova

Outside observers typically view China’s media as utterly shackled by the bonds of censorship, unable to critique the government or speak truth to power in any meaningful sense. In part, this is true — censorship and other pressures do create “no-go” zones for journalists in China, as well as gray zones that sometimes rapidly turn […]

Michael Yamashita’s Photo of the Day

Rabbits in colorful cages for sale at a temple fair near Lianhuachi Park in Beijing in 2010 during the Spring Festival celebration. At these fairs, which are popular during this time of year, vendors sell food and sometimes pets.